Hay stacker



March 10, 1931. HUTTON HAYS TACKER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 24. 1929 I r l nome/go March 1931- H. F. HUTTON HAYSTACKER Filed July 24. 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 HOMER F. Harv-a fitter/140440.

March 10, 1931. HUTTQN 1,795,722

HAYSTACKER Filed July 24. 1929 5 sheets-sheet a Patented Mar. 10, 1931 UNITED STATES? PATENT OFFICE KO-MER F. HUTTON} 0F JEFFERS, MONTANA; ASSIGNOR' T0 ETHEL L. HUTTONa OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA HAY STACKER" Application filed my 24; 1929;

whereby. the-springs are brought into action at a predetermined time during: theelevation otth'eload; thereby to cushion the action of thc stackerhead as ltZlPPlOftChGSltS point of delivery.

A further ob ect is to provide the stacker head with means for holding it in proper po= sition while being lowered and while being loaded.

Another object is to providenew and improved means toractuatin-g thestacker'head. lVith the foregoing and other objects in view whichi'will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the" combina tion' and arrangement of parts and inthe details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being. understood that changesin the precise embodimentaof the invention herein disclosed may be made withinythe scope of whatis claimed withoutdeparting. from the spirit of the invention;

In the accompanying drawings the pretel-red form of the invention has becnshown.

In said drawings,

Figurel is a perspectivexview oi the hay stacker, the stacker head being shown part- 1y elevated.

stacker head in position-to receivea load Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the apparatus'on line'3'3; FigurefZ.

Figure 4 is a central vertical section through .one end portion of the-stacker, the movable structure being shown elevated to load-delivering position, the stackerhead being removed.

Figure 5 is a section onxline- 5-5,- Figure "4, said "section being on an enlarged scale.

Figure 6 is an enlarged section through one side of the structure taken on the line 6 6,

Figure 4. V

Figure? is an enlarged section on line (7, Figure 4.

Figure 2 1s atop plan view showing :the'

Serial" ms. 380,729.

Figure 8 is an enlarged section on line 88, Figure 4.

Figure 9 is an enlarged section on line 99, Figure 4.

Figure 10 is a perspectivevicw of a portion of the apparatus; showing one end of the springecontrolled' cross-bar and adjacent parts.-

Figure-11 is a perspective view of one end portion of the stacker head. a

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 designates a base frame made up of sidebeams 2, a transversebeam 3 connectin g the side beams 2 atone end,- another trans verse beam 4 connecting1 the side beams near 7 their other ends, and braces 5.

A post 6" is secured to and extended up;- wardly from the center of the beam 4 and has braces 7 extending downwardly from the upper end portion thereof tobrackets 8' at tached to the side beamsl between their ends.

Sheaves 9 are mounted on the upper end of the post 6 and another sheave 10 is pivotally connected to the lower end of the post so as to swing laterally relative thereto. A clamping shoe 11 is extended longitudinally of the post between the sheaves and is me "ably connected to said post by parallel links 12. An actuating lever 13 is pivotally connected to-said post and is connected'to the lower portion'of the shoe 11 by means of links '14. By swinging the lever in one direction. the shoe will be caused to shift toward the post 6, thereby to clamp any object that may be between the shoe and the post. By shifting thelever in the opposite direction the interposed object will bereleased.

The connection between the links 14 and lever 13 isadapted to move past the dead center when the shoe is in clamping position so that'the lever'wi-ll thus be held raised as shown in Figure 4. Normally; however, the:

points. These cross-beams have crossed braces 18 secured to them.

A. guide rod 19 is secured to the inner surface of each side of frame 15 between crossieam 17 and the free end of the frame. Each of these rods is extended longitudinally of the frame and is slidably engaged by one end portion of a cushioning bar 20 extended transversely of the frame 15 and having eyes 21 adjacent to its ends as shown particularly in Figure 10.

Arms 22 are pivotally connected to the upper ends of the brackets 8 and each arm has a longitudinal series of apertures Brace rods 241; are anchored to the cross-beams 4 and are detachably seated in any one of the apertures 23 in the respective arms. Thus the arms can be adjusted to any desired angles rcla ive to the base 1 after which they can be held securely. Coiled springs 25 are, connected to the respective arms there being a hook 26 at one end of each spring adapted to be seated in any one of the apertures 23. These springs have rods 27 attached to bolts 28 aidjustably mounted in the respective eyes 21 in the cushioning bar 20. Thus the cushioning bar is held normally positioned upon the guide rods 19 at points nearest the cross-beam 17. By means of nuts mounted on the bolts 28 the tension of the springs can be varied by adjusting the bolts longitudinally relative to the cushioning bar 20. The tension of the springs can also be varied by placing the hooks 26 in different apertures 23 in arms 22.

Secured to the free end portions of the side frame 15 are brackets 29 that straddle and extend upwardly from the sides of the frame and support a transverse rod 30 on which are mounted rollers 31 located directly over the sides of the frame. Slidably mounted between these rollers and the sides of frame 15 are extension arms 32 the lower end portions of which carry guide loops 3? which straddle the sides of the frame 15 and are :nlaptcd to slide therealong. To the upper cnds of the arms 32 are connected pa rallcl cross strips 34 and 35 to which are attached the tines as ofthc stacker head. The rear or secured portion of each tine 3G is straddled by one end, portion of a pivoted finger 37 and these fingers normally extend substantially at right angles to the tines. A red 38 is pivotally attached to the ends of the cross strip 34 and is in the form of a bail normally positioned back of the strip 3 1. This rod has a handle 39 fixedly secured to it and by means thereof the rod or bail can be swung from the position shown in Figure 11 forwardly to posi tion between fingers 37 and the strip 34. as shown particularly in Figure 1. lVhen thus positioned the rod will hold the lingers 3? at right angles or substantially right angles to the tines 36. hen the bail or rod 38 swung downwardly away from the fingers 37,

however, these fingers will rest on the cross strip 34 and be supported at obtuse angles to the tines 36.

Secured to the central portion of the cross strip 16 on frame 15 is a sheave 4:0 and secured to the inner sides of the frame 15 near the free end thereof are additional sheaves 41.

A pull-back cable 42 is attached at one end to the middle portion of the cross strip 34 and is extended longitudinally of the frame 15 into engagement with sheave 40 from which it is extended to an A-frame 48 to which it is secured adjacent the apex of the frame. This A-frame is pivotally mounted upon the sides of the base 1 adjacent the center thereof and extended through the movable frame 15.

The upper or apex portion of the A-frame 42-3 is connected by divergii'ig lifting rods 4 1- to the brackets 29 and supported upon the apex portion of the frame l3 is a sheave 45.

One end of an actuating cable lti is attached to the apex portion of the A-frame 43 and is looped back and forth on the sheaves 9 and 45 and is then extended downwardly from one of the sheaves to the sheave 10 it being designed to attach this cable to any suitable actuating means such as a team of horses. a Windlass, or the like. That portion of cable 46 between the sheaves 9 and 10 is extended between post 6 and shoe 11 and is adapted to be clamped by the shoe against the post when actuating lever 13 is moved upwardly to the position shown for example in Figure 4.

Mounted on the sheaves 4-1 are extensionoperating 0; bles 47 each of which is anchored at one end to one side of the base 1 and at its other end to one of the extension arms 32. These cables maybe zuljnstably connected both to the base and to the extension arms in any manner desired.

Under normal conditions the stacker head with its arms 32 and the frame 15 are extended substantially horizontally beyond one end of the base 1 at which time the cushioning bar 20 is in engagen'ient with those ends of the guide rods 19 nearest the cross-beam 117 and the springs 25 are held under tension so as to yieldingly support the stacl-tcr head or at least relieve the pressure oi. the tines 36 upon the ground or other surface thereunder.

The material to be stacked is loaded onto the tines 3G and against the fingers 37, it being understood that these lingers can be snpported at either of two angles, this depending on the position of the bail or red 38. After the load has been placed on the stacker head the operating cable 46 pulled by means provided for that purpose so that the A-frame 4- will be swung upwardly. The power required for this operation will depend upon the number of loops in the cable and the number of sheaves upon which the cable mounted.

As the A-frame swings upwardly the springs 25 which are under tension will supplement the lifting action so as to reduce the power required to elevate the load. This supplemental lifting action by the springs will continue until the frame 15 reaches a substantially vertical position.

As frame 15 swings upwardly it shifts relative to the points of connectionbetween the cables 27 and the sides of base 1. Consequently said cables, which are mounted on the sheaves 41, will pull on the arms 32 and cause them to slide longitudinally of the frame 15 thereby moving the stacker head away from the frame 15 as it swings up wardly.

Secured to the cables 47 are collars or clamps 18 and these are so located that when the stacker head approaches its uppermost position said collars or clamps will come against the end of the bar 20 and thrust the bar upwardly along the guide rods 19. This constitutes a lost motion connection which will cause the springs 25 to be stretched abruptly and this stretching action will continue until bar 20 reaches the limit of its upper movement on the guide rods 19 at which time the springs are subjected to their greatest tension.

With the stacker head in its raised position the same can be held against return movement by shifting shoe 11 so as to clamp upon the cable 46. The load will slide off of the fingers 37 on to the stack. lVhen cable 46 is released by shifting shoe 11 away from post 6, the tensioned springs 25 will pull downwardly on the bar 20 and as this action takes place the weight of the stacker head and its arms 32 will cause the arms to slide downwardly on frame 15 and take up slack in the cables 47. Consequently these cables will swing frame 15 downwardly toward its initial position. At an intermediate point bar 20 will come against the lower ends of the guide rods 19 and thereafter, as frame 15 swings clownwardly, it will pull on springs 25 and elongate them so as to cushion the descent of the stacker head and prevent it from dropping too forcibly. The pull-back cable 42 insures proper retraction of the stacker head as it descends so that, when it reaches its lowermost position, it will be properly placed to receive another load.

hatis claimed is:

1. A. hay stacker including a base, a frame mounted to swing relative thereto, a stacker head, arms extending therefrom and slidable on the frame, a spring connected to the base, said spring being normally under tension, means for swinging the frame upwardly relative to the base, said spring constituting means for facilitating the upward swinging movement of the frame until the frame has been brought to an upstanding positlon, a member movable relative to the frame and head and connected to the spring, and a. lost motion connection between said member and mg astacker head, aspiring connected to'the structure, means for swingingthe structure ugziwa-rdly relative. to. the base, means for limitin the sliding movement of said slidaev ble connection to hold iLlIQz'SPI-lIIQ'UlIdQI tension when the structure is inxlowermost position, therebyto facilitate-upward movement of the structure until brought to. an upstanding: intermediate: position, and an elementcarried by the structure, swinging means for delayed. engagementswith'the slidableconnectionduring the movement of saidstructure upwardly, thereby-to abruptly increase. the: tension. of the spring when the. structure moves past said upstanding position .to delivcring position.

3*.- A hay stacker including: a base, a. structure mounted to swing upwardlyand .downwardly relative thereto, means for elevating the structure from loadingto. unloading position, a spring connected tothebase, aslidablemember having sliding movement. on the swinging structure and connected to the spring,-'1neans carried by-thie elevating means for delayed:engagement with the. slidable member, thereby to. place the. spring'underabruptly increased tension when. said structure is moved past an intermediate upstancls in-g position-to unloading position,v and means for limiting the movement of the slidable. iii-ember in one direction to. placethe spring under tension when the structure is lowered. to loading position;

4. A hay stacker including a base, a struc' ture pivotally connected thereto including a stacker head, a spring connected to the base, means for swinging the structure upwardly to delivering position, said spring constituting means for facilitating the elevation of the structure to an intermediate upstanding posi tion, slidable means connected to the spring and having limited free movement relative to the pivoted structure, and means carried by the structure swinging means for engaging and shifting said slidable means to place the spring. abruptly under increased tension during the movement of the structure past said intermediate upstanding position to unloading position.

5. A hay stacker including a base, a structure mounted to swing upwardly and downwardly relative thereto, means for raising said structure from its lower or load-receiving position upwardly past a dead center to its upper or load-delivering position, said structure including a stacker head, means a slidable connectionbetween the spring" operated by the upward swinging movement of the structure for elongating said structure, a spring connected to the base, a member slid able longitudinally of the swinging structure and connected to the spring, means for limiting said sliding movement in each direction, said spring being extensible by the structure when moving downwardly to loadreceiving position with the slidablemember at one limit of its sliding movement, thereby to cushion the structure in its descent, there being av sliding connection between said structure elon gating means and. the slidable mem her, and means on said structure elongating means for engaging the slida-ble member to shift it toward the other limit of its movement and place the spring abruptly under increased tension when the structure is moved to load-deli enting position. (3. In a hay stacker the combination with a base, of a structure mounted to swing upwardly and downwardly relative thereto, a slidable extension thereon, means for raising the structure relative to the base, guides on said structure, a cross-bar slidably engaging the guides, an adjustable spring connection between the crossbar and the base, said spring connection constituting means for cushioning the descent of the structure relaao tive to the base, flexible means for shifting the slidable extension upwardly during the elevation of the swinging structure, there being'a slip connection between said flexible means and the bar, and means on said flexible means for shifting the bar along the guides and placing the spring under tension abruptly during the movement of the structure from an intermediate upstanding position to a load-delivering position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature.

HOMER F. HIUTTON. 

